Chapter 33: The Rescue Mission

Once they got a sizable enough force ready, everyone set out to rescue Ash. The mood was tense, all of them trying to keep their minds off of what may have befallen their friend.

"Excuse me? Misty, right?"

Misty jumped, her thoughts being interrupted by May walking up to her.

"Oh, hi May. Is something wrong?"

"I, uh…wanted to talk to you about Ash."

"Sure, what's up?"

"I couldn't help but notice you seemed to be uncomfortable when Ash introduced me. Is something wrong?"

Misty took a deep breath.

"The thing is, I…I have a crush on him. I was in denial when we were traveling together, but when I had to leave it finally hit me. Then I got word that he was missing, and then…"

She trailed off, but May got the point. With a weary sigh, Misty concluded her story.

"I've had one heck of a week, let's put it that way."

May nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry, I hate to think that I've put you in an awkward situation."

"You didn't. I'm glad Ash is happy with you. And it looks like Pikachu likes you as well."

Pikachu, who was riding on May's shoulder trying to keep his mind off things, happily purred as May stroked his chin.

"He's a great guy," Misty continued.

"He is," May agreed. "I'm glad he has such good friends like you two."

Misty nodded, glad they had reached an understanding.


Ash grunted, scanning the tent he was in. If he could just free his hands, he could reach his Pokemon. The soldiers had either been too stupid or too cocky to take them. Unfortunately, they were bound too tightly for him to easily shift out of them.

"Damn it. If I could just find something sharp."

Just then, he spotted a knife sitting on the table, just slightly poking over the edge. Carefully, he walked over to it and began sliding his wrists up and down against it, being extremely careful not to cut his hands.

"Come on, just a little further!"

Finally, the ropes slipped off, and his hands were free. Ash groaned, rubbing his fists to get feeling back.

"Alright, step one is complete. Now to get out of here!"

He knew the front was a no go, there would be guards waiting outside. There were no other ways out, either. No other ways for someone without a Psychic type, at least.

"Go, Kirlia! Teleport us to a safe distance out of here."

Kirlia nodded, and concentrating hard got Ash out of here. Once he was on solid ground again, he got a look at where they landed.

To his surprise, he was just outside of Mt. Pyre's cave, being able to see the soldiers mingling in the distance. From what he could see, they didn't know he had escaped, and with any luck he'd be long gone before they found out.

"I don't see their leaders anywhere, so they must have gone after the orb."

After a brief glance towards the cave, he began walking, using his aura to guide him to it.

"So I'd better grab it first!"


It wasn't long before they reached the base of Mt. Pyre, but stopped when they saw the assembled army.

"Ash is inside the mountain now," Sir Aaron stated. "I can sense it. If we can just get past them…"

"There's no way we can sneak in there with that many people around!" Misty whispered.

"You won't," Brendan said matter of factly. "We've got the numbers, we'll hold them off while you run in and grab Ash."

"Be careful, Brendan," May begged, giving her childhood friend a hug.

"'You too, May."

With that, Brendan led the soldiers into a charge on the camp, distracting them long enough for May, Misty, Brock, and Sir Aaron to run past them.

"Hold on, Ash! We're coming!"


As the sounds of battle faded into the distance, the quartet moved through the caverns, Sir Aaron's aura sense guiding them. Suddenly, he stopped, nearly making everyone fall over to catch themselves.

"What is it?"

"Ash is right up ahead, but…he's alone."

"Guys, is that you?"

Sure enough, Ash appeared from around the corner, May giving him a big hug, followed by Pikachu.

"Pika Pi!"

"Ash, you're alright! They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Ash shook his head.

"No, I broke free and teleported out. They're looking for the red orb, and if it's in here I want to get it first."

"You mean they weren't with you?"

Ash shook his head.

"I haven't seen the leaders since they threw me in a tent."

"This is bad," May thought aloud. "The Aqua and Magma Kingdoms hate each other as much as they hate us. If they're working together, this will be trouble."

"We need to grab it, and fast!"

Everyone nodded and started walking, but Sir Aaron held Ash back.

"Ash, I know nothing I can say will ever make things okay, but…"

"I know we need to talk, and we will. But right now, I want to focus on the mission. After everything's settled we will, alright?"

Sir Aaron was surprised by Ash's bluntness, but nodded.

"Ok."

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just…I just don't know what's going on with my life anymore."

Sir Aaron could only nod in understanding.


Deeper and deeper into the mountain they went, Ash and Sir Aaron leading the way. At long last, they reached the heart of the mountain, where they found the treasure they sought.

There, standing on a pedestal behind a narrow walkway, was the red orb, which seemed to be pulsing with energy.

"Well, that was easy."

"Well, I guess the only thing left to do is grab it."

"HA! I knew you fools would lead us right to it!"

Just then, Maxie and Archie appeared behind them, forcing everyone on edge.

"Alright, we're going to make this real simple for you brats. Step aside, and nobody gets hurt!"

"No way! We're not letting you get anywhere near it."

"Oh really?" Archie sneers. "Not even for the life of your precious Togepi!"

Misty gasped when the man thrust her baby up in his arm.

"Togepi!"

"We found her trying to sneak in after you. Figured she must be important, and it looks like I was right."

"Let her go!"

"Stand down, or the egg gets it!"

Misty could only watch in horror as Togepi cried. At last, she stood aside.

"Please…please don't hurt her."

Archie sneered, and thrust Togepi to the ground, Misty diving to catch her.

"Togepi, are you alright?"

Togepi nodded, allowing Misty to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Misty…" Ash said softly.

"I'm sorry…I just…the moment I saw he had her, I froze, and I…"

"It's okay," May said kindly. "We'll fix it."

Archie and Maxie pushed their way past the others, practically running across the pathway and scooping it into their arms.

"At long last, it's mine!" Archie cackled.

"Yours? I think you mean ours?"

Archie scoffed, and dragged it closer to his chest.

"Oh please, I did all the work!"

"I think not!"

Our heroes just watched in bewilderment as the two squabble like children.

"These are supposed to be the leaders, right?"

"Honestly, if I wasn't scared of what either of them will do with it, I'd be tempted to just let this play out."

Unfortunately, things were about to get worse. As Archie pulled the orb closer to him, it began to glow brightly, before being absorbed into his skin. Suddenly, his eyes began to glow red, and strange markings began to appear all over his body, freaking out even Archie.

"Um…on second thought, you can have it?"

Maxie chuckled, quietly at first but it soon devolved into a mad cackling, before he forced Archie off the cliff to his doom. With that done, he exited the cave, the five heroes only able to watch in horror.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it!"

Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion in the distance. Running outside, they saw a gigantic red Pokemon emerge from a volcano. May's blood ran cold when she saw it.

"Groudon…"

"What's a Groudon?"

"It's a legendary Pokemon that can control the Earth. The red orb must have awakened it!"

"Groudon!" Maxie shouted. "The time has come to destroy Hoen!"

Groudon roared, and began his march, with Maxie following behind. Quickly, May ran to the soldiers who had come with her. Brendan was still alive, but the others were either dead or heavily injured.

"Brendan!"

"Princess, Ash, thank goodness you're alright! We won, but…"

May nodded solemly.

"We'll bury them when we have time. But right now, we need to stop Groudon!"

Brendan nodded, and got every soldier that was still alive ready to retreat. But as the chaos unfolded all around her, Misty could only think one thing.

"This is all my fault…"